240 
JOURNAL; 
tal, engaged in the same pursuits, to which he appears singular¬ 
ly devoted ; it seems to absorb every thought, so as to be trou-' 
blesome to the company, which has some imes to wait for him 5 
it appears to have done away every regard of personal safety.— 
To the ignorant Canadian boatmen, who are unable to appreci¬ 
ate the science, it affords a subject of merriment; le foil , the 
fool, is the name by which he is commonly known. No sooner 
does the boat touch the shore, than he leaps out, and when his 
attention is arrested by a plant or flower, every thing else is for¬ 
gotten. The inquiry is sometimes made, ou> eat le fou? where 
is the fool ? il est ufires ramaaser des ratines , he is gathering 
roots. He is a young man of genius, and very considerable ac¬ 
quirements, but is unfortunately too much devoted to his favor-* 
ite study. A characteristic anecdote of this gentleman was re¬ 
lated to me, by Mr. Miller, who commanded one of the boats^, 
ana shews to what an astonishing degree the pursuit of natural 
history had taken possession of his mind, to the exclusion of 
every thing else. The day after passing the Sioux tribes, they 
met, as I have before mentioned, three hundred Arikara lndi* 
ans, these were so delighted to see them, that a number rushed 
into the river, to swim or wade to the boats; the par y suppos¬ 
ing them to be inimical, was on the point of firing; while every 
one was in momentary expectation that this would take place, 
Nuttal, who appeared to have been examining them very atten¬ 
tively, turned to Miller, “ sir,” said he, “ don’t you think these 
Indians much fatter, and more robust than those of yesterday.” 
In the course of the evening, had an opportunity of seeing 
the manner in which the antelope is hunted in these open plains, 
where tnere is no possibility of approaching by insidious means* 
A handkerchief is placed on the end of a ramrod, and waved 
in the air, the hunter lying flat on the ground. If any of the ani¬ 
mals be in sight, they run instantly to the place, and perform a 
circuit around, approaching often within twenty or thirty yards, 
which gives an opportunity of firing on them. 
The party of Mr Hunt consists of about eighty men, chiefly 
Canadians; the rest are American hunters. 
Tuesday 4 th. Set off at seven—wind contrary, though not 
so strong as yesterday. After doubling a point, we found that 
